Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-04-17
Daily eagle
THE HORSE EXCHANGE"
VISIT TO A NEW YORK MARKET FOR
BROKEN DOWN HORSES.

Biggest Bargains OF the Age" 1.-The
Dealers Favo-ite and the Customers
Eane-Fixing Up Worn Out Hacks--va-
rious Tricks OF the Trade.
The Horse Exchange on Broadway and
the sales stables on Twenty-fourth street are
well known to ell New Workers who have
any knowledge Of horseheSh. But away up
In Norkville at the foot of east Seventy
fourth street there is place where horses
are bought, sold and exchanged which nine
tenths of these knowing New Yorkes never
heard Of. But every peddler who is rich
enough to afford horse, every farmer
within radius of twenty-five miles Of New
York and every fourth rate horse dealer has
been there, and with the exception of the
class last mentioned few care to 90 there a
second time.
This peculiar institution is known as the
Horse Market. y more appropriate tito
for it would be: "a marketfor broken down
horses, . for that is really what it IS, although
the astute men who run it VIII never ac-
knowledge the fact.
Between . and . O'Clock in the afternoon
the market is to be seen at its best. \
stranger coming there then might well i'm
agine himself in a lunatic asylum. The
auctioneer is no longer regarded. Every
dealer is then an auctioneer, albeit without q
license, and goes from group TO group shout
ing:
Biggest bargain Of the age. True Ham
OletOnian blood. Trots a mile in .. 80. Name
your price"
Horses that can hardly pull a pound are
seen by some magic influence, trotting like
race horses Horses with all kinds and sorts
Of diseases which, in the whirl and confusion,
are concealed: horses with hoofs half eaten
away; horses whose thighs seem out of joint;
blind horses; horses that are worn out from
CID age: dozens and dozens of horses, but
not q sound enc in the whole lot.
THE DEALERS DUMMY
Among these horses is one that is the
dealers fAyorite and the customers bane.
In the vernacular of the horse market he is
termed a dummy" The relevancy of the
word IS not apparent. lie Las what are
called ''on'' and of days One day he is
rs brisk and fiery a horse as one would wish
to speed up the boulevard On d day when the
high flyers are out. The next day be may
be unable to pull pound or stand up in his
harness, or may give NJ the ghost altogether
His disease is incurable, yet when he is in
good spirits he is fine looking animal and
an expert might be fooled by him. 1t is no
wonder, therefore, that the average buyer is
deceived in him. There are many other
good looking horses sold at the market, but
as the reporter was privately assured by a
dealer, who acted es his guide, not one of
them is worth taking away.
AS the reporter and the artist were stand
ing on the outskirts of the busy .hrong a
meek looking man approached them.
''Say, m:ster,'' he said TO the reporter,
whose apparent greenness had evidently i'm
pressed him, do you see that horse over
thar
Following the direction of the mans finger
the reporter saw what appeared to he O
spirited bay horse. A typical jockey was
riding him around to shoG his good points,
while the owner was haranguing a large
crowd.
NOW, III tell ye," continued the meek
man, confdentially. ~ know that horse
from way back He's a good I'm. He's
got blood in him, that horse has, an | know
it. Now, the man wot owns him an IS on
bad footins. We had a quarrel some time
ago about little bargin. an 50 l don't want
ter bid on i'm. But if you lin buy him fur
S11J III give We an even $500 FOR i'm. Wot
dye say?'
Thercporter excused himself on the ground
that be had no funds with him, and the man
went away Disguised.
Clear SKIN game, = said the guide. THAT
horse is 4 dummy. lie may not live two
days. You pay your cash for him, and the
other fellow who said he'd bay him from
you never turns up. You never could catch
him, for You don't know his name, and if
You did he'd get dozen witnesses to prove
an alibi for him.
TRANSPORTATION SCENE.
In front Of ore of the sales stables, which
was locked, the guide paused and knocked IN
peculiar way on the door 1t was opened
and the party walked in. \ wonderful
scene met their gaze Bottles, buckets and
pals full Of liquids and powders were scat
tered everywhere. Three men with their
sleeves rolled up 10 their aTmpits were busy
doctorinC a number Of sicllY horses. A
broken down hack was, in fiIsacn minutes,
transformed into plunging, spirited horse.
lie was quickly taken out on the grounds and
sold ct ten tines his value 10 an Innocent
buyer.
Every horse sold IN the market is ''doc-
toredn more or less and the effect while it
lasts is remarkable. Al tho dealers are
adopts at the revivifying art, and can ''fix
up a horse in less time than it takes to tell.
y horse apparently sound was sold the
other day for $50 II g farmer haiiing from
Long Island. The purchaser drove him up
the eastern Boulevard on his way to the
Nirety-niuth street ferry. Before he had
gone five blocks the horse began to blow ter
rlbly. he proved to be "a wheazer, " that
Is, short winded. When the farmer re-
turned he could not find the man he had
bought Of The horse looked as though lie
would not outlive the day.
I'm give you s. for him for his bones"
said an uncouth red shirted horseman.
Tho farmer, fearing that his horse would
die on the journey, and just as fearful Of
being guved even if he did get him home,
accepted the offer. The purchaser was the
partner Of tho dealer who first sold the horse.
The animal was put unier the doctors
treatment and resold the same day to an
other unsuspecting farmer for $40.
A cutsom in general vogue among the
dealers is to prove the strength of the horse
by showing his drawing power. The wheels
OF the wagon to which the horse is harneSsed
are tied together SO that they cannot revolve.
Then the horse is forced to drag the wagon
with its load for about twenty-five feet.
The test is not a particularly good one.
The ''persuader, which in horse market
parlance means man and whip, manages TO
call for the animals latent powers in ono
grand effort.
At rare intervals the dealers arc them
selves tricked \ man will sell them horse
and the same day the owner viii appear and
claim that his hired man has stolen the horse
and run away He has no difficulty in iden-
tifyinG the horse. because his partner in the